Author's note: I know this took a long time. Sorry :P. But I had finals and I also wrote my other One-shot. I promise it won't take that long for the next chapter.
Chapter 5
Alvin
"Man! This is really hot, I'm beat!" the brown haired boy said wiping the sweat away from his forehead.
"We're almost there, Lloyd. Hang on," Kratos said looking at his son who had fallen behind. He knew Lloyd was about to collapse.
The burning sand under Lloyd's feet was making him annoyed. His brain was numb and he was soaked in sweat. They had walked for hours and Triet seemed still too far away.
Lloyd's eyes started to prickle because of the sand and he was so thirsty he could have drunk an entire oasis.
"Dad… I'm really… tired…" he said falling to his knees.
"Lloyd!" Kratos ran over just in time to catch his son. The teenager had just collapsed. "Lloyd? What's wrong? I think I should carry him to Triet."
vvvvv
"Lloyd, wake up," Kratos was kneeling in front of Lloyd's bed at Triet's Inn. The angel knew his son was tired but something was going on. Surviving to a desert for a few hours was something Lloyd would do without any struggle.
The boy squirmed in his bed but did not wake up. Kratos sighed and stood up, walked to a small table and washed a piece of cloth in cold water. He then placed the wet fabric on Lloyd's forehead. The boy frowned and opened his eyes.
"Dad? What happened?" he asked trying to sit down but Kratos placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You collapsed," Kratos answered removing the wet cloth from Lloyd's forehead.
"I can't remember…" the brown haired boy frowned.
"Are you feeling okay now?" Kratos asked concerned about his son.
"Yeah. I feel much better now. Thanks," Lloyd got up from the bed and put on his boots. "Why did you want to come here?"
"Oh, yes. I know someone who will be able to fix your clothes," Kratos said with a weird expression.
"Who is it?"
"Follow me." He said and went out of the room. Lloyd hurried and followed his father.
They walked through Triet's marketplace until they reached an old building. Kratos knocked the door.
"Come in!" cried a voice from the inside. Kratos pushed the wooden door and stepped in.
"Hello, how may I ser- Kratos? Kratos Aurion? Is it really you?" an old man approached Kratos and hugged him.
"Heh… Hello, Alvin. How have you been?" Kratos asked not returning the hug.
"Fine, fine! How 'bout you?" Alvin released him and went to sit on a wooden chair, and then he began to sew a green dress randomly.
"Fine, I guess." The angel answered emotionlessly.
"And Anna? How is she?" he asked with his eyes fixed in the dress.
"She's… She's… well, she's deceased." The auburn haired man said sadly.
Alvin looked at Kratos incredulously and with his mouth slightly open. "What?" Kratos nodded miserably.
"She died fifteen years ago…" Kratos explained. "Alvin, I need you to fix Lloyd's clothes."
"Lloyd? Oh my Goddess! Is this Lloyd?" the old man approached Lloyd with wide eyes and stopped when he was at barely an inch from Lloyd's nose. Looking into his silver eyes, Lloyd remembered something about him… he was not sure what, though.
"Yes." Kratos said nodding, "What do you think?"
"Hmmm… Hmmm… Well… " Alvin pondered looking at Lloyd but from a longer distance. "No way! This cannot be fixed! We'll-have-to-make-it-all-over-again!"
Lloyd blinked and looked down at his clothes. Were they that messed up?
"Uh, Alvin? They're not that bad, are they?" Lloyd said nervously.
"'Course they are! Look at that! They're all dirty and ugly and broken and gross and ripped and tore up and filthy and horrible and stuff!" Alvin regained his breath.
"Uh…" the teenager blinked again, he couldn't believe there was someone in the whole world who could speak that fast.
"And worse of all: it's red!" the old man shouted indignantly.
"Hey, what's wrong with it being red?" Lloyd said looking at his red shirt.
"You look cuter in pink." Alvin said matter-of-factly.
"What?" Lloyd took a step back, and then looked at his father. "Dad, is he gay?" he whispered.
"No, I don't think so." Kratos said recalling an event that happened with Anna. "Alvin, I trust you can make him new clothes?"
"Of, course! Just leave it to me!" he answered cheerfully. "Well, as you seem to like red that much, I'll go see if I've got some red…" he added to Lloyd and went through a small wooden door.
Kratos started walking towards the exit when Lloyd shouted. "Dad! You're not leaving me with that crazy old gay man, are you?"
"I know he seems weird, but he's a good person." The mercenary said simply.
"Dad!" the boy whined but Kratos ignored him and left.
"Here, I found some colors," Alvin said and showed him a bunch of red fabric. "I'm not quite sure, which red do you like best? I have orangered, brickred, crimson, tomato… Personally, I think you'd look fine with pink…"
Lloyd stared at the designer unsure of what to answer; the colors all seemed the same to him. "Uh… I think crimson is okay…"
"Fine, then! Crimson, that's a pretty color!" he threw away the fabrics and grabbed the crimson one.
Lloyd blinked, and the next second, Alvin was measuring his arms and legs; his fingers and nails; his head and nostrils; his waist and wrists; his eyes and tongue.
Lloyd was way too frightened to say anything so he just stood there staring at the crazy old man.
"Uh-huh. Okay. I think I'm done, boy!" Alvin cheered.
"Uh… yeah… What do I do now?"
"Oh, just sit over there. It will be finished in no time!"
"Yeah… sure…" he sat down and stared at the wall.
"Hey, Lloyd. Wanna know how your papi got that purple outfit?" the designer said without taking his eyes off of the fabric he was sewing.
"Sure. Why not?" Lloyd started to get excited. Was Alvin going to tell him about Kratos' past? He had to find out more about his Dad!
Anna touched her hair, it was full of knots. She frowned. How long had it been since she didn't wash it? A week? Two weeks?
"Kratos, I need a river." She said.
"And I need new shield, but so what?" he answered bitterly.
"I mean, I need to wash my hair. More importantly, I need a bath! Get me a river!"
"Yes, right, hang on while I go and buy it."
"Don't be sarcastic and take to river now."
"There are no rivers near. When we come to one, I'll let you take your bath."
"You don't understand, do you? My hair is getting all shaggy and dry. And you should take a bath, too. Your hair is so dirty it sticks all up like that and-"
"Fine, I'll take you to a river, but stop complaining about everything… especially my hair…"
"You can be really helpful every now and then," she said closing her eyes.
"'Every now and then?' What do you mean? I've helped you on countless situations." He replied.
"Where's the river?" Anna asked changing the subject.
The auburn haired man sighed and pointed to his left, "That way. If you wish so, I can stay here and wait for you."
"Oh no, you're coming, too. What if you run away? No. I wanna keep a close eye on you." The sienna-haired young woman pouted.
"Very well… We'll be there in about twenty minutes," he rolled his eyes. She was just so stubborn! He wouldn't run away; and even though he did, she would surely catch up with him in no time at all.
vvvvv
The river was wide enough for one to take a bath at ease, but it was surrounded by only a few trees. Anna could be watched from those trees.
"Here we are," Kratos said, showing her the river with his finger.
"Great! Now I can finally take a bath!" she cheered.
"I'll… be waiting for you… Over there…"
"Yah, whatever. Just go. I don't want to get naked in front of you."
"Indeed," he said and walked away.
When he was far enough, Anna started getting her clothes off. She placed them under a large tree and made her way to the river. She touched the water with her toes just to know the temperature, just then, she charged and jumped into the water.
Once there, she splashed playfully and started to wash her hair.
Anna hummed happily but had a strange feeling: someone was watching her.
She turned around quickly but there was nothing. She shrugged and continued with the washing.
It happened again. Someone was definitely watching her. She turned around again and saw a peeping tom watching from behind a small bush.
Anna grabbed a rock from the bottom of the river and tossed it with all her might, trying, of course, to hide her body from view.
"Go away, you perv!" she yelled.
But the man wouldn't go away. In fact, he was coming closer. "Come with daddy Alfred, you beauty. You sure are a sight for sore eyes."
He started giggling in a crazy way and Anna panicked.
"AHHHHHHH!" Kratos opened his eyes at the cry. He wondered if it had been Anna's.
"How does she manage to get in trouble so easily?" he asked himself angrily. The auburn haired man ran on the way to the river. When he got there he found something he didn't expect.
It was a weird scene: Anna was throwing rocks at a man who was slowly approaching her. And that was not all, Anna was naked…
"Kratos, this guy is trying to…!"
"Anna, what's wro- Gah!" he turned around blushing madly, "You should have told me you were naked!"
"I suppose it's obvious! I'm taking a bath! Now get this freak out of here!" she cried tossing a rock, but now, at Kratos.
Suddenly a huge roar was heard. The three of them stopped right where they were.
Anna looked around and saw, up river, an enormous mass of water approaching.
"Dammit…" she muttered.
The tidal wave engulfed them and took them to open sea.
vvvvv
Kratos broke the water surface and breathed deep. He floated there for a moment until he realized Anna was missing.
"Anna!" he called but he got no answer. Kratos started to panic. What if she had drowned?
The angel swam in circles trying to catch sight of the young woman… and he did.
"Anna! ..." he muttered, and taking a deep breath, he dove into the water and seized Anna by the waist.
Kratos was struggling not to see her naked body while swimming to the shore. Once there, he took off his cape and wrapped her up.
After a few minutes, Anna opened her green eyes and stared at Kratos. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, Anna slapped him… hard.
Kratos' eyes widened and rubbed where Anna had hit him.
"What was that for?" he asked amused.
"I'm naked! You saw me naked!" she yelled at him.
Kratos turned around hesitantly; he didn't want to give Anna his back for she could rip his head off. Kratos had never seen Anna so infuriated since he had met her, which was about a month. "I'll go to the nearest town to see if I can find you some clothes."
"Yes, you do that." She said, still angry.
The angel left and wandered in the direction the nearest town, which happened to be Asgard.
He entered the ruins city and hoped he would find some clothes that suited Anna.
Wandering around and asking about, he eventually came to a shabby house. A designer lived there, he had been told. Knocking and pushing open the door, he found an all man knitting with incredible speed and incredibly glittery pink garment.
"Come in, come in," he said, not looking away from his job.
"Uh… hi. I… need clothes. For a woman."
"Yes, yes, otherwise, why would you be here? Well, you could want clothes for man, yes, but since you look new to town, and you are soaking through ant through, I assume you are costumer who got swallowed by the river, while your girlfriend was taking a bath, she lost her clothes and now you came to get more for her, since you're too inhibited to look at her. I'm Alvin."
Why does every single person I meet seem to know my story?, Kratos wondered. Am I that obvious?
"She's not my girlfriend," he clarified.
"Yes, yes, whatever," Alvin looked up for the first time. "What are her measurements?"
"I… uh… she's… this tall?" Kratos signaled with his hand to show Alvin where Anna's head reached up to in comparison to his own body.
"Look, Prince Charming, that doesn't work for me. Either you bring her here, you give me her measurements, or I'll have to go measure her myself. Your choice."
"I'll go get her measures…" Kratos left the room. He couldn't say he was freaked out, but he wasn't sound, either. Just a little bit… surprised. Yeah.
"Anna, I need your measurements." Kratos entered the forest in the place where he had left Anna looking up.
A rush of dimensions came from Anna's lips. Kratos never imagined a person could be measured from so many points of view. As he was about to ask Anna again, a rustle in the nearby bushes was heard, he unsheathed his sword. "Who's there?"
In a flash, Alvin was measuring Anna all around. It seemed as if a tornado had surrounded Anna, who stood patiently waiting for Alvin to finish.
"Is this a designer?"
"Y-yes…" Kratos was still surprised by Alvin's sudden entry.
"SHE'S PURR-FECT!" screamed Alvin as he finished taking Anna's dimensions. Instantly, he sat in a rock and started knitting a green garment at an astounding speed.
Anna was nearly as surprised as Kratos. In fact, they were both speechless.
"I'm DONE!" screamed Alvin when he finished the green garment. It seemed as if he lived on coffee, actually. He started measuring it directly on Anna. "It fits perfectly in here, now if I could just put this a little bit higher, maybe a ribbon on this side, or tighter over here and looser over there…"
"How do I look?" Anna asked Kratos, he, however, was completely lost in his thoughts.
"Well, how do I look?" she said louder.
"Huh? Were you talking to me?" the angel recovered his consciousness.
"Well, duh."
"Fine, I guess…" he said returning to his thought at once.
"… It matches your eyes perfectly, but with a little more here…" just then, Alvin did something that neither Kratos nor Anna would've expected.
"You perv!" Anna slapped him, and the poor designer fell to the floor knocked out.
Kratos watched in awe as the scene developed before his eyes.
"Sorry, sorry. Won't happen again, won't happen again," Alvin apologized, "But, seriously, this is one of my favorite designs! Green fits you soo well!"
He kept walking around Anna as if she were a diamond statue worth several billion gald.
Suddenly, Alvin looked at Kratos and then at Anna. Anna realized what was going on and looked from Alvin to Kratos.
"You-don't-match." Alvin said out of the blue.
Poor Kratos. He just stood there and gulped, for two totally random people were looking at him with evil smirks.
"DISCUSSION!" both Anna and Alvin shouted and started whispering something about him.
Kratos, having angelic senses, heard what they were talking about but hey were speaking so fast he could only work out a few words: 'Kratos', 'outfit', 'ugly', 'make over', and 'let's go'.
Now, it was Kratos' time to be measured. A few moments later he wore a completely new purple outfit that matched Anna's.
"Great! Now, Anna dear, you match perfectly with your husband." Alvin cheered.
"He's not my husband."
"With your fiancée?"
"He's not my fiancée."
"With your boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend?"
"With your… companion?"
"He's not my… yeah, now I match with him."
"And that's how Kratos-papa got his mercenary outfit." Alvin finished relating his story.
"That's… That's…" Lloyd couldn't believe Kratos' life had been that random.
"I'm DONE!" the designer shouted causing Lloyd to fall from his chair.
Lloyd put on his new clothes which consisted of a sleeveless crimson shirt, Kratos' style; red gloves that covered his hands except his fingers; dark blue pants with two belts, the upper one to hold his pants and the other one to hold his twin swords; black boots that matched his belts; and finally, a surprisingly fresh and soft scarf.
"Wow! This is really cool." Lloyd admired his brand new clothes.
"They are, aren't they?" Alvin said proudly. "Now go find your daddy."
"What about the money?"
"Don't worry about those little nitpicky details. Now go!"
"O…Okay, thanks!" Lloyd ran out the building and started searching for his father. Where could have Kratos gone?
He searched in the market, he asked the innkeeper, and he asked the vegetable seller. The latter one told him he had seen a man walking in the direction of the Fortune Teller.
"Wha? Fortune Teller?" Lloyd walked inside the tent and saw Kratos there.
"…The one you have thought of thinks very highly of you! He would never let you make the same mistakes you once did. I'm sure he loves you a lot. You should answer his trust."
"Dad?"
"Lloyd! What are you doing here?" Kratos' turned around scared to see his son standing there.
"I'd like to ask you the same thing."
"Your father came here because he wanted to know-" the Fortune Teller started saying when Kratos placed a reasonably big money bag in front of her. "Ah, I mean… Your father was about to give me his address, weren't you, dear?"
Kratos turned around slowly to face the Fortune Teller; he couldn't believe she had said that!
"Um… thank you for our service." He stepped out of the tent dragging Lloyd with him. But the Fortune Teller stepped out as well. "Good-bye, hottie!"
"Run, Lloyd, run!" he whispered to his son.
